It is advantageous for a firearm such as a semiautomatic pistol to accommodate both right handed and left handed shooters. Such a pistol is designated as “ambidextrous”, i.e., capable of use with equal facility with either the right or left hand. To be ambidextrous means that the various controls on the pistol, for example, the slide catch, the manual safety and the magazine catch, should be readily actuatable by the “strong” hand, i.e., the hand holding the pistol.
Ambidextrous magazine catches according to the prior art, while effective, tend to be complicated. There is clearly an opportunity to provide an improved ambidextrous magazine catch which is simple in design and reliable in operation.